Balboni earns honors in inaugural season
Penn State Icers head coach Scott Balboni has been named the American Collegiate Hockey Association's 2007 Coach of the Year.
Balboni guided the team to a 31-6-2 record and a tenth consecutive ACHA Men's Division I National Tournament title game in his first season at the helm. Penn State's 31 wins this season tie for second-most in team history.
Despite having only one senior on the team, Balboni and the Icers managed to secure the No. 1 seed for the national tournament. The team made it all the way to the title game where it took home runner-up honors.
Balboni was an assistant coach for the Icers from 1997-1999 and again from 2002-2006 before succeeding two-time ACHA Coach of the Year Joe Battista as head coach this season.
Balboni will be presented with the 2007 Coach-of-the-Year Award at the ACHA's Coach-of-the-Year Celebration on Saturday, April 28 at The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club.
Field hockey secures four letters of intent
Penn State head field hockey coach Charlene Morett announced the signing of four student-athletes to national letters of intent yesterday.
Lauren Alloway of Hummelstown, Ali Meves of Lower Gwynedd, Jenny Purvis of Maple Glen, and Daneen Zug of Manheim have all signed letters of intent to attend Penn State and participate in field hockey beginning with the 2007 season.
A midfielder/back, Alloway currently attends Lower Dauphin High School, where she helped lead her team to a perfect 29-0 record and a Class AAA state championship as a senior last fall. She was a first team All-State selection as a senior and scored three goals and recorded nine assists, including two helpers in the state semifinal win.
Meves will come to Penn State this fall from Wissahickon High School in Ambler, where she was a four-year member of the field hockey and soccer teams. A goalie, she started every game of her career in goal, compiling an 83-12-3 career record with 53 career shutouts.
A midfielder/forward, Purvis was a first team regional field hockey All-American and a second team national field hockey All-American as a senior in addition to being named first team All-State.
Zug is a back out of Manheim Central High School in Manheim, where she was a three-time team MVP. As a senior this past year, she led her team to a 14-3-2 record and a sectional championship and was the leading scorer in Section 2 with 10 goals and 10 assists.
